Bookshelf: Do You Matter? How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company

"If you ceased to exist tomorrow, do you think anyone would really care?" In other words, "has your product, service, or brand established an emotional connection with your customers to the extent that they are invested in the interest that you not only survive, but also prosper?"

These are the questions asked by authors Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery. Their point, and one they repeat throughout Do You Matter?, is that great product design is about more than simply a product's appearance. Indeed, they write, "It is about a broader experience that includes nearly everything about you, your products and services that your customer comes in contact with. We call this the customer experience supply chain."

Thriving design-driven companies have built their long-term success by developing products that are about ideas and not simply products, the authors assert. They use examples such as Apple, BMW and IKEA to demonstrate and expand upon their key point. Equally important, they provide examples and case studies of companies that have been less than successful in their efforts to gain lasting success through product design.

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